Mining Press Roundup: Gold and Silver Slide as Capital Chases Tungsten, Antimony and Magnets

Precious metals took the biggest hit of the day, and gold miners took it with them. Spot gold "fell as much as 3.2% to $3,891.67 an ounce, its weakest since Oct. 28 last year" on Friday, Oct. 30, per MINING.COM. Silver slid 5.8% to $49.34 an ounce, below $50, and is down roughly 18% for the month, according to MINING.COM. The selloff landed on producers that were already reporting cost overruns and delays. Meanwhile, deals and project milestones in tungsten, antimony, rare-earth magnets and lithium kept coming.

Gold and Silver: A Rough Month Gets Rougher

Gold is on track for a drop of about 6% in October, its worst showing for the month since 2008, and a second straight monthly decline, MINING.COM reported. Bullion now trades about 28% below the record close of $5,419.83 it set on January 28.

The macro backdrop is hostile. According to MINING.COM, the prospect of renewed US military action against Iran pushed Brent crude to its highest since April, reinforcing the inflation worries that prompted the Fed in September to raise rates for the first time since July 2023. Data on Thursday showed US inflation accelerated in September, and traders now price a more than 70% chance of a Fed hike in December. Technology shares led global stocks lower for a second day as disappointing earnings accelerated a rotation out of the artificial intelligence trade and into Treasuries.

Bart Melek, global head of commodity strategy at TD Securities, said "Gold is getting caught up in the momentum," as quoted by MINING.COM, which cited Bloomberg. Analysts at Commerzbank said the fall in tech stocks may have prompted margin calls and forced selling. They called the decline in precious metals exaggerated and still expect a recovery.

Equities took the damage. Newmont, the world's largest gold miner, dropped 5% by late morning in New York, cutting its market value to $110 billion. Kinross Gold slid 7.7% to the edge of its 52-week low, has shed 17% in October alone and is now worth $23 billion. Hecla Mining fell 6% on Friday and has lost 60% from its 52-week high, taking its market capitalization down to $9 billion. Newmont, Agnico, Barrick, Wheaton and Franco-Nevada have lost almost $140 billion in combined market value from their 52-week highs, with Agnico alone accounting for more than $40 billion, MINING.COM said.

Eldorado Gold: Skouries Ramp-Up Forces a Guidance Cut

Eldorado Gold cut its 2026 gold forecast by 18% at the midpoint, to 425,000–475,000 oz. from 495,000–600,000 oz. previously, because the Skouries copper-gold operation in Greece is taking longer than expected to ramp up, MINING.COM reported. Skouries' expected 2026 gold output shrank to 10,000–35,000 oz. from 60,000–100,000 oz., which MINING.COM calls a 72% reduction at the midpoint.

The cost side also worsened. Eldorado disclosed $160 million (C$224.6 million) in additional Skouries costs, plus $80 million of previously planned spending now expected before commercial production.

The market reacted quickly. Eldorado dropped 7.9% to C$44.44 Thursday morning in Toronto, valuing the company at about C$11.6 billion ($8.3 billion).

Alamos Gold: Island Gold Shaft Slips, Costs Climb

Alamos Gold pushed back its Island Gold shaft expansion by about a quarter. Commissioning is now expected to be completed by mid-2027 rather than the first quarter, per MINING.COM. The stage 3+ shaft project is expected to run about 5% above its $835-million (C$1.17-billion) budget, implying a total cost of roughly $877 million.

The operating numbers were soft too. Group production fell 16% from a year earlier to 119,000 oz., while all-in sustaining costs rose 42% to $1,956 per ounce.

CEO John McCluskey said the company remains on track to "nearly double our rate of production to approximately 1 million oz." annually by 2030.

Abenójar Tungsten: A London Debut for a Critical Metal

Spain's Abenójar Tungsten (LON: ABT) raised €170 million ($190 million) in London's largest mining initial public offering since 2018, and shares gained on their London Stock Exchange debut Friday. The IPO was priced at 110 pence per share Tuesday. Shares rose almost 3% to 105 pence in early-afternoon trading Friday, still below the offering price, MINING.COM said.

The company is developing the El Moto project in central Spain, which it describes as one of the world's largest and highest-grade undeveloped tungsten deposits. Construction is underway, with first commercial production targeted for the first quarter of 2029. CEO Gonzalo García San Miguel said both the mine and its planned processing facility have been designated strategic projects by the European Union.

The timing suits the sector. China dominates global tungsten production and processing, which makes new European sources increasingly important to the region's supply security, MINING.COM reports. Abenójar has a market capitalization of £522 million and is approaching the size required for potential inclusion in the FTSE 250 index.

Critical One Energy: Strategic Capital for Howells Lake Antimony

Critical One Energy (CSE: CRTL) signed a binding memorandum of understanding with Solar International Core Canada (SICC) covering its Howells Lake antimony-gold project in Ontario. The MOU brings C$25 million ($18 million) of strategic capital, a construction financing facility of up to C$400 million ($286 million) and a future antimony offtake agreement.

SICC will invest C$15 million at C$1.20 per share for 12.5 million common shares. That is a 48% premium to the Oct. 28, 2026 closing price (C$0.81), for a 12% interest on a fully diluted basis. The MOU also establishes exclusive offtake rights to purchase up to 150 million pounds of future antimony production from Howells Lake, at international benchmark prices.

Howells Lake is described as Canada's largest undeveloped antimony deposit. It sits about 120 kilometres west of the Ring of Fire access corridor in northwestern Ontario. Critical One's stock was up 3.7% by market close in Toronto on Thursday, giving it a C$54.3 million ($39 million) market capitalization.

HyProMag USA: Pre-Feasibility Study Points Beyond Texas

HyProMag USA completed a pre-feasibility study on expanding its US rare earth magnet platform beyond its first plant in Northlake, Texas. That plant is in detailed engineering, with Phase 1 commissioning expected in mid-2028.

The study envisions post-tax NPV of $1.85 billion to $2.1 billion for the three new plants, with post-tax IRR of 31% to 36%. The combined post-tax NPV range of the proposed Northlake Texas Facility and the potential PFS plants is estimated at $2.6 billion to $2.8 billion.

HyProMag CEO Julian Treger said the study "confirms the opportunity to establish a significant domestic rare earth magnet manufacturing platform in the United States."

Codelco: Dismissals Over Over-Reported Copper

Chile's state-owned miner Codelco dismissed eight people, including senior executives, after investigations into over-reported copper production uncovered new evidence of irregularities. The dismissals include Salvador general manager Patricio Viveros, and Codelco announced that Felipe Lagno will replace him.

A separate audit identified roughly 27,000 tonnes of copper, equivalent to about 2% of reported own-mine production in 2025, that had been improperly booked as commercially ready material. Ernst & Young is running a targeted investigation, KPMG is reviewing production records across the company, and Chile's Comptroller General is conducting a separate audit. An extraordinary shareholders' meeting is scheduled for Nov. 5 at the request of Mining Minister Daniel Mas and Finance Minister Jorge Quiroz.

"Transparency and integrity are completely non-negotiable principles in our state-owned companies," Mas said, backing the dismissals.

Rio Tinto: Argentine Lithium Comes Online

Rio Tinto opened the Fénix 1B expansion and Sal de Vida in Argentina's Catamarca province, backed by a combined $1.4-billion investment. Once fully operational, the two projects add 25,000 tonnes of annual lithium carbonate equivalent capacity.

CEO Simon Trott said the company is executing towards a "global target of 200,000 tonnes lithium carbonate equivalent annual production capacity by 2028."

What It Means

The day split the industry in two. Gold and silver producers faced falling metal prices just as several of them reported higher costs and later schedules. Eldorado's Skouries guidance cut and Alamos' shaft overrun and production decline show how little room those operations have when prices turn.

The money moved the other way. Tungsten got a London listing, antimony got a strategic investor and an offtake framework, magnets got a pre-feasibility study with a Texas plant already in engineering, and lithium got new Argentine capacity from Rio Tinto. Several of those stories rest on supply security, with Europe and North America looking for sources outside China's grip on tungsten processing. Codelco's audit troubles are a reminder that a reported tonne of copper is only as good as the books behind it.

This roundup covers press releases published on October 30, 2026. Company announcements are sourced from mining industry wire services. For corrections or updates, contact contact@stakeandpaper.com.